ARTIST PROJECT TORONTO

My first model, Jasenya, was a high school student in Toronto who is interested in art and fashion.

Lorna is a UPS delivery associate who enjoys modeling on the side.

This piece, modeled by Lorna, was the last one I painted.  I felt like I could have kept going!

Our Art Collectif x Mike Smalley x Artfully Awear booth!

Ann is the mother of my first model, Jasenya.  She said they like to do creative things together, and have even appeared in music videos!

Jessica is a performance artist who uses her body as her medium.

Here I am with my model, Ann, and Art Collectif founder Erika.

Last weekend, I exhibited my work at an art fair for the first time ever!  In collaboration with Art Collectif and Mike Smalley, I created four one-of-a-kind Artfully Awear garments on live models with a live audience at Artist Project Toronto.  It was truly a test of my abilities.  I've learned that it's one thing to spend time at home making my pieces, and another challenge completely to do it with people watching (and wearing the garments!) at the same time.

I have to admit that I've had a difficult start to 2018, creatively.  Around the beginning of the year, I entered a weird creative depression - I didn't want to make anything or feel inspired to try anything new with my work.  I've gone through creative ups and downs before, but this one seemed more significant; I wondered if I'd reached the end of Artfully Awear.

My friend Erika Floysvik, founder of Art Collectif and Toronto native, had spoken to me about partnering with her company Art Collectif to highlight one of their artists through an Artfully Awear demonstration during Artist Project Toronto.  I'd agreed to do it, but in all honesty, I was really worried about it when the time came.  Since I hadn't created anything in a while, I didn't feel like I'd be able to deliver my best work on the project.  However, I'd agreed to do it, so I prepped the garments and flew to Toronto, nervous about the way they would turn out.

Everyone in Toronto and at the fair was so kind and welcoming!  I immediately let go of some of my nerves when I realized that I was among friends.  I almost immediately got to work meeting my first model, Jasenya, and painting my first garment.  With each successive work, I felt more confident and thought the result was better.  By the fourth piece, I felt like I could go on forever!

My favorite part of the whole experience was meeting the models that Sharalee, Erika's assistant, had sourced for me.  I'd requested that each one be diverse - whether in physical characteristics or background, and she found some very special women!  I loved being able to highlight them on my Instagram, and especially enjoyed working with Jasenya and Ann, a mother daughter pair.

That aspect of the project opened a whole new form of what I do - using wearable art to empower women.  I've already experienced what this project has done for my own creativity and confidence, and now it's time for me to share that feeling with others.

Thank you to Mike Smalley, the lovely artist whose work inspired all of these new pieces, and to Art Collectif for being a wonderful partner on this project!

I'm looking forward to my next visit to Toronto, and to discovering new ways to bring the empowering message of Artfully Awear to others.

ART HISTORY HALLOWEEN: Femme au chapeau

Happy Halloween!

My costume this year was inspired by Henri Matisse's Femme au chapeau (Woman with a Hat), 1905, at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.  I've always been fascinated by this painting for its riotous colors, and it was actually one of the first artworks to be classified as "Fauvist".  

It is a portrait of Matisse's wife, Amélie, who was a hat-maker.  What a fun challenge to recreate the gorgeous topper depicted in this painting!  

I used hand-painted paper, which I cramped and attached to a painted hat.  I painted the blouse as well, and the backdrop.  My friend Kathy helped me with the makeup and took the photos.  It was so much fun to bring one of my favorite paintings to life!

Have you worn an art-inspired Halloween costume?  I'd love to see it!

SUNFLOWERS

What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything? –Vincent Van Gogh

There are a few artists that I love, but whose work I am afraid to try to recreate.  (Matisse is one of these artists.)  When the thing that inspires you is a masterpiece – something so beautiful and famous and even spiritual – it is unbelievably frightening to think that you may not be able to do it justice.  In preparation for my visit to Amsterdam, I began working on a jacket inspired by Vincent Van Gogh’s masterpiece, Sunflowers, 1889, which resides at the Van Gogh Museum.  I agonized for weeks before even starting the process, wondering if I’d be able to capture the essence of such a well-known and loved work of art.  In the end, I spent more time creating this piece than any other Artfully Awear project before.

On the day I was set to meet the painting, I arrived at the museum before it opened.  There was already a line of people outside waiting to get in.  Meri and I went inside, straight to the second floor, where the painting lives.  When the second door opened, I couldn’t believe my eyes.  There, on a wall to itself, was my inspiration in all its glory.  It was larger than I had pictured, even though I knew the measurements, and the colors and textures were even more vibrant and detailed than any photo could have shown.  I was overwhelmed.  After an emotional moment, we spent some time taking photos with the piece.  After the photoshoot was finished, with a museum employee before exploring the rest of the museum.

We discussed the way that social media has impacted the museum experience, and provides visitors and staff a multitude of new ways to engage with art and to share their experience with others.  I marveled at how I was inspired by a work of art that was three thousand miles away from my home, and how I was able to connect with it through digital images – but how important and meaningful it is to actually see the painting in real life.

Thank you to Meri for taking the photos, to the Van Gogh Museum for having me, and, of course, to Vincent for inspiring us long after his time on the earth.  

Photos by Meri Feir.

GUGGENHEIM VISIONARIES

There is a joke amongst my art-loving friends: if anyone asks "What's at the Guggenheim right now?" we always answer, "Kandinsky!"

Vasily Kandinsky is the artist I most closely associate with the museum, and for good reason: his work made up the initial collection that launched the Guggenheim to be what it is today.

In the current exhibition, Visionaries: Creating a Modern Guggenheim, the work of Kandinsky is seen alongside work by Pablo Picasso, Piet Mondrian, and Alexander Calder, among others, whose presence in the collection established the museum as an elite institution.  The exhibition also delves into the history of the museum, and highlights some of the individuals who were necessary in building such a prestigious collection: Solomon R. Guggenheim, of course, but also Hilla Rebay, Justin K. Thannhauser, Karl Nierendorf, and Peggy Guggenheim.  It is an interesting curatorial perspective, one that is very institution-specific, and helped me to appreciate the museum's holdings in a much deeper way.

For this dress, I chose two works by Kandinsky: the front (not shown) is inspired by Several Circles (January - February 1926) and the back is inspired by Composition 8 (July 1923).  This is the first time I've combined multiple works into one garment, and it was fun to think about curating an outfit like one would curate an exhibition.

Visionaries: Creating a Modern Guggenheim is on view at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York City until September 6, 2017.

Photos by Mark Rosen.

$NINETY-FOUR

Armory Week in NYC started with the ADAA's The Art Show, the first in a series of art fairs and events that lasted for about a week, and ended yesterday.  I saw an incredible amount of art in the span of a few days, and shared my favorites through Instagram Stories.  The most memorable piece for me, though, is pictured here: Sarah Cain's $ninety-four. 

When the Art Dealers Association of America asked me to make a dress inspired by one of the works in their benefit auction for the Henry Street Settlement, this piece caught my eye.  I made a dress for Sarah Cain's exhibition at Galerie Lelong last fall, an immersive experience that included a large-scale floor painting.  I was surprised to find that $ninety-four is the size of a dollar bill!  There is an abundance of energy in the six-inch painting, and it made me think about the impact that even a small act of kindness can carry.  

The Henry Street Settlement opens doors of opportunity for New Yorkers through social service, art, and healthcare programs, and you can make a difference by getting involved.

Photo by Hilary Pollack.

GENERAL IDEA @ MUSEO JUMEX

This is the final post from my Mexican travels earlier this month.  It was an epic journey that ended in Mexico City, where there are more museums than I could possibly see in one visit - or in a whole month!

One of the museums that made the cut for my stay was Museo Jumex, which is focused on contemporary art.  On view currently is a retrospective of the work of the artist collective General Idea, called "Broken Time".  The exhibition showcases work from the three collaborating artists in a diverse array of mediums, from painting to photography to film.

General Idea was made up of three collaborators: AA Bronson, Felix Partz, and Jorge Zontal.  The artists used their collective work to explore many different themes throughout their activity, including the exploration of advertising and mass media, ideals of beauty, and the global and local effect of AIDS.  The collective's work was cut short when Partz and Zontal passed away due to AIDS-related complications in 1994.

Some of my favorite works in the exhibition were actually created before the artists officially established their collective.  The ziggurat paintings shown here were completed by Felix Partz in 1968, after he traveled in Tangier and was besought by the Islamic architecture and imagery he saw there.  For General Idea, ziggurats were a symbol of power, and they used this motif over and over in their work.

Of course I couldn't resist the chance to do my own power poses with the paintings!

General Idea: Broken Time is on view at Museo Jumex in Mexico City until February 12, 2017.

WHAT I LEARNED FROM ART BASEL

I’ve just returned from Art Basel Miami Beach, an event I look forward to for months in advance, and begin planning my outfits for weeks ahead of time. I planned to create three garments inspired by works at the fairs, and photograph them on site.  After a horrific paint spill and a disappearing painting, I didn’t accomplish what I set out to do.  In fact, I didn’t even complete one and I left Miami feeling unfulfilled.  But there’s always a silver lining to failed creative endeavors – you learn something about yourself and your process along the way. 

The photo above is an example of one of these failed attempts.  After losing an entire garment to an unfortunate paint spill in my suitcase on the flight to Miami, I set out to make a new dress.  Inspired by Kenneth Noland’s Mach II from Acquavella Galleries, a work of art I saw at Art Basel during the VIP Preview day, I hand-painted this dress in my hotel room using childrens’ finger paints I bought at Walgreens.  I wasn’t very happy with the result, given my limited resources, but set out to photograph the piece nonetheless.  When I returned to the fair, I found that the piece had sold, and was already out of the country with its new owner, a private collector. Slightly devastated, I posed for this photo outside the fair.  In a strangely poignant turn of events, when the photo was uploaded to my computer, it was slightly mutilated in the process, resulting in the bewildering version above.  In a weird way, the photo seems more like a work of art to me than the dress; all I had to do was remove my control from the process.

That, in a nutshell, is what I learned this year: no matter how much you plan and prepare ahead of time, there are always external factors that are out of your control.  The finished product may be completely divergent from what you set out to create, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t a success – as long as you learned something along the way.

Kenneth Noland, Mach II, 1964 via Acquavella Galleries at Art Basel Miami Beach

Photo of me by William Sealy; painting photo by me.

IAN DAVENPORT

I need to be honest about this dress.  I hate it.

When I saw there was an Ian Davenport exhibition opening at Paul Kasmin Gallery, I knew I had to make a dress for it.  I was so excited.  I found a white dress and got to planning – I would tape off the stripes so I could paint each different color, and freehand the swirls at the hem.  It would be FUN.  I got to work.

Hours and days into the project, and I began to hate it.  I toiled away, struggling with bleeding paint, fabric that was too thin, running out of supplies, and on and on.  At some point along the way, I started to HATE the dress.  I didn’t want to look at it anymore.  It came to represent all of the challenges and frustrations of every project.

I couldn’t give up on it, not after I had invested so many hours.  So I finished the dress, but I knew I hadn’t captured the essence of Ian Davenport’s painting.  I didn’t want to wear it.  But the invested time forced me to put it on and go to the gallery.  At the gallery, the photos weren’t working.  The lighting was difficult and the dress had gotten wrinkled, and everything was just WRONG.

I was so frustrated.  I wasn’t going to post the photo.  I needed a break from this whole thing.  Art is hard.  Replicating art is harder.  Making art when you have a full-time job is nearly impossible.  WHY BOTHER?

And then I realized that the struggles and trials of making something are a part of the experience.  If it were easy, then everyone would do it.  But they don’t, because it’s hard.  Learning how to work with new mediums and styles and brushes and tape and paint is, actually, one of the best parts of making things.  When something doesn’t turn out the way I want or expect it to, I need to embrace it.  What else can you do?  You can start from scratch or you can ROCK the thing that you made and let it speak for itself, telling the story of all of the things you learned from it.

So here it is, in all of its glory, the dress that gave me hell.  But in the process, it also forced me to solve problems and embrace challenges, so maybe it was worth it.  Maybe.

Photo by Kathy Paciello.